A long shot bill that uses the Maryland Stadium Authority to help Baltimore City build and renovate schools is headed to the Senate floor, and its supporters are confident it will land on the governor's desk.

The plan, which was approved in a 107-30 vote late Tuesday, leverages more than $1 billion in bonds to replace 15 schools and renovate up to 35 others.

The state will divert $20 million in lottery proceeds, and Baltimore City will contribute $20 million from the recently increased bottle tax and casino revenue.

The bill was approved by the Senate in a 40-7 vote. It now heads to the governor's desk to be signed into law.

City leaders were thrilled at the bill's passage.

"The day’s events mean we are able to advance, in a critical way, the reforms we’ve put in place to date so that our students can build on their progress and get that much closer to truly learning at their potential," city schools CEO Andres Alonso said in a statement. "With passage of this bill, we affirm as a state our high expectations for Baltimore City’s kids."

"I want to thank Gov. Martin O’Malley, Senate President Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael Busch for their support of this landmark city-state partnership. Their commitment shows a deep concern for the well-being of Baltimore City students. Together, we will ensure that every city student will sit in a clean, modern and safe building," Mayor Stephanie Rawling-Blake said in a statement.

The bill that passed both houses of the General Assembly doesn't exactly represent the proposal the way the city pitched it. As early as next week, consultants will start the process of taking a closer look, on paper, at more than a dozen school building projects as the district makes plans to close some schools.

The fight for new school buildings in Baltimore City went beyond the school house to church house.

"This is an answered prayer," said the Rev. Glenna Huber, of Baltimoreans United for Leadership Development (BUILD). "We're just excited to see that when you get students together and parents and neighborhoods working together with elected officials and the business community that we can really make things happen, and that feels good. That instills hope."

"I was very hands-on and got to see a lot of the action firsthand," said Reginald Smallwood III, student member of the Baltimore Board of School Commissioners and a senior at Poly.

Smallwood said the students to follow will benefit.

"It's definitely a sense of pride to say where you come from. You go to different areas and there's always a new school building being built, so it's a sense of pride and accomplishment for the school system," Smallwood said.

Students actually took the lead in thanking lawmakers for their support of the Baltimore City construction bill. In fact, some might call this a teachable moment.

Students took center stage Thursday at Cross Country Elementary Middle School reading portions of thank-you the letters they're sending to state lawmakers.

"I am very glad that you gave our school money to renovate," said Alana Hines, a student.

"I would first like to say thank you for all you have done to have our school be renovated or rebuilt. When this occurs, this will give kids an opportunity to have better technology," said Jordan Pope, a student.

The letter-writing campaign was part of a larger school-wide project. As it turns out, Cross Country is one of the city schools in line to benefit from the new construction money. It would cost $14 million to renovate or $15 million to replace.

More than two dozen community groups who helped to turn the tide in Annapolis are claiming a major victory.

"Since 2005, BUILD, the (American Civil Liberties Union), the Baltimore Education Coalition have listened and honored what hundreds of parents, students and teachers have said in conversations across Baltimore," said Yasmene Mumby, co-chair of the Baltimore Education Coalition.

The City Schools CEO, Andres Alonso, was careful to pass along a good bit of the credit to those on the front lines.

"I couldn't possibly be happier about the outcome of some many people working so unbelievably hard, creatively and unselfishly to find a solution to a problem that for many decades people thought insolvable," he said.

Most agree, there's a good chance the student letter-writing campaign to lawmakers will continue as long as there building needs across the district.

"We also hope to have labs and equipment where (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) programs can be fully taught instead of having to pick and choose which pieces we will work with," said Maria Aranda-Lopez, a student.

Baltimore is set to build 15 new schools with help from the Maryland Stadium Authority. Before the district can start building, the city must move ahead with plans to close as many as 26 old and underused schools over the next 10 years -- at least four of which are set to close this summer.

WBAL-TV 11 News has learned that groundbreaking for the first new school could come as early as late 2014. Meanwhile, a coalition of grassroots organizations that played a major role in getting construction dollars said it will organize a letter-writing campaign of thanks from students to lawmakers.

Stay with 11 News and WBALTV.com for more details on the legislation throughout the day.